


we will walk beyond

by haloud



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Gen, M/M, Missing Scene, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 04:36:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10756833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haloud/pseuds/haloud
Summary: In a moment of relative peace, Seliph and Ares discuss many things that have gone unsaid for far too long and finally come to an agreement.





	we will walk beyond

**Author's Note:**

> title comes from dance in the graveyards by delta rae

Animosity can never live long within the ranks of an army existing in as close quarters as Seliph’s.  Yet, it is not quite animosity that finds Seliph and Ares occupying the same supply tent one cool gray morning as both set about inventorying and managing their equipment in anticipation for battle.  Rather, the air has somewhat cleared between them since their fraught introduction.  Seliph has grown content with respectful silence between them, but Ares breaks that habit on this particular morning.

“Tell me, Lord Seliph.  How were you raised?  How did you spend your days in Tirnanog with Prince Shanan and Sir Oifey?  What knowledge had you of your heritage and your destiny?”  There is not quite an accusation in his words, but Seliph detects that Ares is aiming towards some thought he has been long considering.

“Well…times were difficult, for us as they were for all.  Initially, Oifey’s Grannvallian appearance and speech naturally made the local people uneasy.  Later, once the conquest reached Isaach’s most remote regions, it was Shanan who could find no work and no quarter as the Empire moved to wrest power from those to whom it rightfully belonged.  But the people of Tirnanog never lost hope.  They knew who Shanan was and put all their hopes in him; he, in turn, told them of me, and the people had enough respect for my father to raise me in more privilege than any refugee infant could expect.  As for myself…I was raised with many stories of my parents.  Particularly stories of my father’s nobility, generosity, and heroism.  I was aware of all times who I was and who I was meant to become.  I grew up loving my father’s memory and wishing dearly to know my mother.”  Seliph gazes down the length of his sword, examining it for scratches and nicks, rather than look anywhere near his companion.

“I see.  It sounds like you were fortunate to have people by your side to guide you.”  Repaying him in kind, Ares turns even further away from Seliph.

“I was indeed.”  In the pause that follows, Seliph sets his sword aside and folds his hands in his lap.  Ares has kept his back turned from the first moment he sat down, and he makes no indication that he intends to move any time soon.

“What of your youth, Lord Ares?”

“Lord?”

“Well…yes?  Once we set the world to rights, you will inherit Nordion—perhaps all of Agustria, in truth, as I’m unsure how many heirs remain and whether their claims are verifiable—as should always have been your birthright.  Or…am I being overly presumptuous?  My apologies, Sir, truly, if you do not desire to rule than it is a decision to be made between yourself and your esteemed cousins—“

“I was just surprised to hear the title coming from you, heir to all Grannvale.”  And now Ares sets his blade and polish aside as well, resting his elbows on his knees and staring off into the distance.  “You really mean to dismantle your empire, don’t you.”

“The Empire is not mine.  My father was no emperor; I am Grannvale’s heir only by a quirk of fate.  Tirnanog is my home; Chalphy is my birthright.  I trust that Shanan will not deny me occasional visits to the one; the other is the extent of whatever hunger I possess for land.  I intend to make all possible reparations and ensure that such destruction—by any country—can never happen again.”

“Are you sure you’re right about your father?  Sure, it was Emperor Arvis and not Lord Sigurd who strangled the world in an iron fist, but who was it that conquered Verdane, which many call the first territory to be added to the Empire?  You yourself were born during your father’s occupation of Agustria.  History may show that Lord Sigurd was manipulated into his actions at the start of these dark times, but the fact of the matter is that the first blows of conquest were struck by your father, and none other.”

“…”

“No response?  Tch.  Perhaps it was too much to ask.”

“…No.  No, Lord Ares, I was merely considering your statement.”   Seliph drags his toe repeatedly through the dirt.  “I confess I have often wondered, usually in the small hours of the morning when I cannot sleep, whether I can trust the stories I have been told.  It is so clear that Shanan and Oifey idolized my father.  For all their virtues, is it not possible that their hero-worship blinds them to even the most glaring faults?  Father was, by all accounts, a most charismatic man, and charisma can be a shroud for so much darkness… And then I am consumed by guilt that I could be so ungrateful to both my sire and my caretakers, to doubt them so.”

“Ah.  That explains a lot.”

“Hm?”

“I’ve been wondering for a while why you didn’t just cut me down where I stood when I accused your father of being a gutless oathbreaker who slaughtered his best friend in cold blood.  You would have been well within your rights.  I was asking for a fight.”

“It was like you were straight from my worst nightmares—my darkest thoughts and most insidious fears made flesh and demanding I answer for their pain.  I could barely breathe.  I knew logically that I had the right of it, but in my heart…  All I knew was that I needed to keep you by my side.  For several reasons: to prove the truth to you, to prove the truth to myself, and to ensure that I had at least one person who would be critical of my actions.”

“That’s rather shrewd.  Quite unexpected of you.”

“Is that so?”

“Very much so.  Most of what I’ve witnessed of your actions points towards you being soft as a newborn babe, with that tactician of yours forming the only hard shell around your fragile leadership and heart more fragile still.  But you came to this conclusion by your lonesome?”

“…I did.  I recognize that I am prone to tenderness and ill-suited for the position of General, and I—“

“I don’t want to hear a single excuse come out of your mouth.  Regardless of your qualms, you must appear to have confidence in yourself or court ruin for any quest you venture.  Why would anyone follow a fool always doubting himself?”

“…They would not.”

“I’ve left more than one posting because the commander was an imbecile or a brat.”

“I will endeavor to meet your expectations.”

“For Naga’s sake—“  And Ares suddenly rounds on Seliph, taking him by surprise and using the opening to pinch him sharply on the ear.  “Fool!  Is that really what you think I meant by this scolding?  I am subordinate to _you,_ at least for the time being!  What ruler bows and scrapes before his subjects, desperate for their approval?  What war leader begs clemency from his men?  I am trying to give you _advice,_ not a homework assignment!”

“But you are not simply a lieutenant at my command!  We both merely need look into a mirror to be reminded of this fact.  You are the son of Nordion, and I…too much of my soul relies upon healing the bonds which even now I feel bleeding like fatal wounds.  There are too many ghosts to put to rest, Lord Ares; can’t you feel them too?”

Ares falls silent, his dark eyes fixed on Seliph; Seliph holds that gaze unwaveringly, unsure of where he finds the courage to stare down this man when every instinct begs him to speak up, smooth things over, make peace.  But, before his mouth can betray his mind and overflow with apologies, Ares closes his eyes and breaks the stalemate.

“I’ve learned recently that the ghost I dedicated my life to avenge never existed at all.  The death of my father…now that I know the truth, the foundation of my life has shaken and cracked.  How do I know that man existed at all?  Everything I know of him is a fiction.  The place in my soul where my father should be is occupied by two ghosts, not one.  So yes, Seliph, I feel them.  I am merely uncertain what you think should be done about them.”

“All I want is an end to war.  An end to suffering.  And, before you scoff, I am well aware how naïve and foolish those words sound.  I know that I am one man; I know this army is an ant scaling a vast range of mountains. Therefore, I start the only place I know where to begin: with an end to the bad blood spoiling our bond, when a golden world would see us grown to men side by side, in our fathers’ love.  I believe that the only way to put any ghost to bed is to bring them out of the past and into a new day’s light.”

Ares laughs, a surprisingly gentle and genuine sound.  “That was a pretty speech.  I almost believe you are sincere.”

“I would never say such things in bad faith.”

“I know.  I know _you_ wouldn’t.”

“How do you mean?”

But, rather than answering Seliph’s polite bewilderment, Ares rises to his feet.  Sheathing his newly-polished sword with a solid _snik,_ he extends a gloved hand for Seliph to take.  Once they stand facing each other, he speaks once more. 

“Very well, Prince.  I propose a vow:  us two will clear the names of our fathers and lead our countries into a new era of peace and brotherhood.  As fate always should have ensured.  This, I swear.”

Tears mist Seliph’s eyes, but he blinks them away before Ares can notice.  He clasps Ares’s arm, and when he speaks his voice is firm.  “This, I swear.  Never again shall steel or scorn divide us.  Our words bind today us and our heirs yet to come, and their heirs as well.  Until Chalphy and Nordion fall to dust, until Tyrfing and Mystletainn are lost to rust, as long as the blood of Baldur and Hezul runs pure, so shall our bond.  As the gods bear witness.”

Both bow their heads in a moment of reverent silence.  Static electricity fills the air, buzzing gently in their ears, crackling soft in hair and on fingertips.  Both men hold their breath.  Seliph cannot help but feel that he has been _heard._  When they unclasp their hands, that otherworldliness dissipates from around them like smoke in the wind, and they are once more alone.

“You speak well.  Better than I have heard you speak before,” Ares says, voice pitched deeper than it was before.

“You do me more honor than I deserve.”

“Just take the compliment, will you?”

“Very well.”  Seliph laughs, and once he begins he finds it impossible to stop.  Ares joins in, and they stay like that—bending double, clutching their sides, wiping tears from their eyes—until Ares flings a hand out to brace himself on Seliph’s shoulder.  A jolt runs through Seliph then—residual energy perhaps, or something else, something cheesy that flushes the tips of his ears, sends his smile quavering, makes him imagine how Larcei would laugh and mock at him for being a delicate, swooning maiden.

Seemingly ignorant to the effect he is having, Ares just claps Seliph on the shoulder and, wiping his eyes once more, says, “Gods, I don’t know when I’ve ever laughed like that.  Perhaps Lene’s nagging about my surliness is having an effect after all.  My thanks to you, Seliph.”

“We did it together,” Seliph manages, still trying to stifle his blush.

“That we did.  Perhaps the future will see more such ventures.”

A little smile still lingers on Ares’s so usually-solemn face.  As Seliph ducks his head and returns his attention to the task of cleaning and maintaining his blade, he even considers telling himself it’s a job well done.  After all, Ares has just given him something to look forward to in the darkening months to come.

 

**Author's Note:**

> i first started writing this before my other ares/seliph fic, actually; i found myself writing this as a way to sort of write myself into these characters and how they would interact. as such, i don't think this is the most polished thing i've ever produced, but i do quite like it. enjoy!
> 
> you can find me at haloud.tumblr.com


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